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Texas Texting And Driving: Statewide Ban Off To A Rough Start

Posted by Ted LiggettApril 10, 2018

Texas was one of only a few states to not enact a statewide texting while driving ban until last September. Previously, it was up to cities to pass ordinances to reduce this dangerous behavior; and, while some cities like Austin have long since embraced texting and driving bans, other cities like Houston had not. In September 2017, the Texas statewide texting and driving ban finally went in to effect. With the increasing number of motor vehicle accidents caused by distracted driving, the ban should have helped reduced the number of accidents, but in the six months since it went into effect, the ban has been off to a rough start.

Car Accidents Caused By Distracted Driving

According to the National Safety Council, a driver using a cell phone while driving causes one out of every four car accidents. Considering there are an average of over 10 million car accidents each year, that’s 2.5 million caused by distracted driving. With such a huge number of distracted drivers on the road, you would expect a texting and driving ban would keep law enforcement busy writing citations, but this isn’t the case.

In the first four months since the statewide texting and driving ban went into effect (September 2017 – January 2018), Lubbock County only issued 13 violations, all of which were warnings, meaning none of the offending drivers were issued fines. The county that issued the most violations was Starr County on the Texas-Mexico border with 137 violations, but only five resulted in actual citations and fines.

Regardless of state laws and citations, texting while driving is illegal. This is an incredibly dangerous activity; and, while so far only a few drivers are facing the new legal consequences for doing it, drivers that cause car accidents while distracted are likely to face personal injury lawsuits from victims. Victims of texting and driving accidents have a right to seek compensation from the negligent party.

Lubbock Texting And Driving Accidents

There is no excuse for engaging in any type of distracting activity while driving. If you or someone you love was involved in a Lubbock auto accident caused by a distracted driver, call Liggett Law Group. Our attorneys can fight for your compensation so you can focus on recovery. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.